title: Bosonic stimulation in the formation of a bose-einstein condensate
abstract: The formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute atomic gas has been studied in situ with a nondestructive, time-resolved imaging technique. Sodium atoms were evaporatively cooled close to the onset of Bose-Einstein condensation and then suddenly quenched to below the transition temperature. The subsequent equilibration and condensate formation showed a slow onset distinctly different from simple relaxation. This behavior provided evidence for the process of bosonic stimulation, or coherent matter-wave amplification, crucial to the concept of an atom laser.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miesner
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Stamper-Kurn
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Durfee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inouye
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ketterle